Hectic pre-election rush of bills

Of the 52 bills to be pushed through in the last week of Parliament, eight would be given a couple of hours for debate, 44 bills would have less than an hour, and of those, eight bills would have half an hour.
Photo: Andrew Meares

The Gillard government will use its last week of Parliament to ram through up to 52 bills.

It will also limit debate to as little as half an hour on contentious issues such as local government constitutional recognition, a clampdown on foreign workers, government-subsidised childcare wages, and measures to boost manufacturing.

Senator
Mitch Fifield
, the manager of opposition business in the Senate, said the government told the Coalition, the Greens and independent senators it would attempt to pass 52 items of legislation next week.

The last week of Parliament before an election period is usually hectic as the government attempts to enshrine its promises in legislation, and the alternative government attempts to delay the process so it doesn’t have to repeal the laws if it wins government.

Senator Fifield said of the 52 bills, eight would be given a couple of hours for debate, 44 bills would have less than an hour, and of those, eight bills would have half an hour.

Extended hours

The government will require the Senate to sit extended hours, to as late as 12.40am on Friday morning.

The Senate will then be required to resume less than nine hours later to give Labor its last opportunity to pass key policies before the September 14 election.

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“We are especially outraged that they would limit debate on a referendum to half an hour," Senator Fifield said.

“Just as a matter of principle, one type of debate that should be allowed is a referendum bill."

Parliament slowed to a crawl this week .

It took two and a half days to pass laws that would give the federal government the power to approve coal seam gas and coal projects.

Senator Fifield said the government could not accuse the Coalition of failing to co-operate in the business of government, after the Senate passed 22 bills in 75 minutes on Thursday.

Filibuster behaviour prohibited

Australian politicians are prohibited from engaging in the notorious “filibuster" behaviour of US politicians, who can speak for hours to delay the passage of the bills.

However Australian politicians have a number of tactics at their disposal to slow the parliamentary process. including calling for division and seeking to suspend standing orders.

Greens leader
Christine Milne
said the minor party would not side with the Coalition to slow down the passage of bills next week.

“We are very concerned about the Coalition’s filibustering and its attempts to stymie important and much-needed reforms," she said.

She said the Greens would not go to the polls without the Gonski education reforms being legislated, the restructure of the Australia Council going ahead or fairer workplace laws being passed.

“The Coalition wants all of these bills to come to a standstill because it knows the Greens in the Senate will stand strongly against Tony Abbott’s attempts to repeal them, and that’s why we want them to be made into law ahead of the election," she said.

There are a number of bills of concern to employers and business.

The government wants to pass two proposed laws to crack down on the use of 457 visa workers and workers on Australian oil rigs and LNG platforms.

Those proposed change will have about 30 minutes’ debate in the Senate.

Some measures may not be controversial and are unlikely to need lengthy debate.

The government wants to fast-track its abolition of penalties for people who make excess superannuation contributions, so that the relaxed rules can take effect on July 1.

The government has allowed 10 minutes’ debate on the legislative change. It has been widely applauded by superannuation and consumer groups.